Shame on me: I managed to miss all of my hometown Dallas Video Festival's 20th edition, which concluded yesterday. The festival screened "more than 250 titles from 13 countries and is the oldest in the nation devoted to video," according to an Guidelive.com interview with Bart Weiss, fest founder. But better late than never (at least, that's what I always tell my landlord); the festival's site has a multitude of profiles in the "Artists" section and there's plenty to browse in the "Films" section. While there are a few familiar names and titles in the program -- Guy Maddin's Brand Upon the Brain,documentaries Manufacturing Dissent and Fish Kill Flea,a passel of short films by David Lynch -- the festival embraces "every kind of moving image," according to the site, including "video art, experimental film, innovative narrative film and new media art."Here's a round-up of local coverage; you might want to take note of specific titles in case they play near you. Robert Wilonsky of the alternatively weekly Dallas Observer highlighted The Pervert's Guide to Cinema,The Hole Story,Air Guitar Nation, Note by Note, The Trials of Law School, and Who is Bozo Texino? Chris Vognar of the Dallas Morning News recommended the restored The Whole Shootin' Match and Inside the Circle.John P. Meyer posted several articles for Pegasus News: a preview, a review of Viva, a story on Still Waiting: Life After Katrina, and a report on four "mumblecore" shorts. Great reading. Filmmaker David Lowery wrote about an avant garde presentation of the 1919 silent El Automóvil Gris and expresses his feelings about the aforementioned Pervert's Guide to Cinema. The driving force behind the festival is the Video Association of Dallas, which has two ongoing film series; more information is available at their site.
categories Cinematical
